Prelude: A vector, as defined below, is a specific mathematical structure.
It has numerous physical and geometric applications, which result mainly
from its ability to represent magnitude and direction
simultaneously. Wind, for example, had both a speed and a direction and,
hence, is conveniently expressed as a vector. The same can be said of
moving objects and forces. The location of a points on a cartesian coordinate
plane is usually expressed as an ordered pair (x, y), which is a specific
example of a vector. Being a vector, (x, y) has a a certain distance (magnitude)
from and angle (direction) relative to the origin (0, 0). Vectors are
quite useful in simplifying problems from three-dimensional geometry.

Definition:A scalar,
generally speaking, is another name for "real number."

Definition: A vector
of dimension n is an ordered collection of n elements, which are called
components.

Notation: We often represent a vector by some letter, just as we use
a letter to denote a scalar (real number) in algebra. In typewritten work,
a vector is usually given a bold letter, such as A, to
distinguish it from a scalar quantity, such as A. In handwritten
work, writing bold letters is difficult, so we typically just place a
right-handed arrow over the letter to denote a vector. An n-dimensional
vector A has n elements denoted as A1, A2, ..., An. Symbolically,
this can be written in multiple ways:

A = <A1, A2, ..., An>A = (A1, A2, ..., An)

Example: (2,-5), (-1, 0, 2), (4.5), and (PI, a, b, 2/3) are all examples
of vectors of dimension 2, 3, 1, and 4 respectively. The first vector
has components 2 and -5.

Note: Alternately, an "unordered" collection of n elements
{A1, A2, ..., An} is called a "set."

Definition: Two vectors are equal if their corresponding
components are equal.

Example: If A = (-2, 1) and B = (-2,
1), then A = B since -2 = -2 and 1 =
1. However, (5, 3) not_equal (3, 5) because even though they have the
same components, 3 and 5, the component do not occur in the same order.
Contrast this with sets, where {5, 3} = {3, 5}.

Definition: The magnitude of a vector A of dimension
n, denoted |A|, is defined as

|A| = sqrt(A1^2 + A2^2 + ... + An^2)

Geometrically speaking, magnitude is synonymous with "length,"
"distance", or "speed." In the two-dimensional case,
the point represented by the vector A = (A1, A2) has a distance from the
origin (0, 0) of sqrt(A1^2 + A2^2) according to the pythagorean theorem.
In the three-dimension case, the point represented by the vector A = (A1,
A2, A3) has a distance from the origin of sqrt(A1^2 + A2^2 + A3^2) according
to the three-dimensional form of the Pythagorean theorem (A box with sides
a, b, and c has a diagonal of length sqrt(a2+b2+c2) ). With vectors of
dimension n greater than three, our geometric intuition fails, but the
algebraic definition remains.

Definition: The sum of two vectors A
= (A1, A2, ..., An) and B = (B1, B2, ..., Bn) is defined
as

A + B = (A1 + B1, A2 + B2, ..., An
+ Bn)

Note: Addition of vectors is only defined if both vectors have the same
dimension.

Justification: Physical and geometric applications warrant such a definition.
IF a train travels East at 5 meters/second relative to the ground, which
will be denoted in vector notation as VT = (0, 5), and a person on the
train walks South at 1 meter/second relative to the train, which will
be denoted as VP = (-1, 0), THEN the direction and speed that the person
is traveling relative to the ground is represented by the vector VG =
VT + VP = (0, 5) + (-1, 0) = (0 + -1, 5 + 0) = (-1, 5). This vector has
a magnitude of |VG| = sqrt((-1)^2 + 5^2) = sqrt(6) = 2.449..., which means
that the person is traveling at about 2.449 meters/second relative to
the ground and the net direction is mostly East but slightly South.

Definition: The scalar product of a scalar k by a vector
A = (A1, A2, ..., An) is defined as